Check in Chess: What It Is, How It Works, and How to Escape

A check means your king is under direct attack, and the rules leave you no choice: your next move has to get the king out of danger. You cannot ignore it. You cannot play elsewhere, and you cannot leave the king sitting in the line of fire. That one constraint shapes most of what happens on the board, since the whole game is built around protecting a piece that never actually gets captured. This guide covers what a check is, the only three ways to answer one, and the situations where one or more of those answers quietly stops being legal. Get those failure cases right and you avoid the most common beginner mistake of all: trying to block or capture out of a check that can only be met by moving the king.

What Is the Check Rule in Chess (and What It Actually Means)

It is a critical rule and defines the main characteristics of the game. It means a piece attacks the King. Since the King cannot be captured in this game, he has to move out of the threat. The game ends with a checkmate if the player cannot remove the attack on the King in their turn.

The above example shows a situation where the White player checked Black. The h7-Bishop attacks the King on the g8-square.

The check in chess is notated with the plus (+) sign during the annotation process. This sign is added at the end of the move to indicate that the player checked the enemy player.

For example, the last move in the position above is annotated as “Bxh7+”. This suggests that the h7-Bishop hits the Black King.

The check follows a handful of strict rules that every player has to respect. Knowing them keeps you from making illegal moves and helps you read a position faster (they are set out in the FIDE Laws of Chess):

• You must respond to a check on your very next move. A check is not a suggestion. If your King is attacked, the only legal moves are the ones that get you out of it.
• Any piece except the King can give a check. A Pawn, Bishop, Knight, Rook, or Queen can all attack the enemy King. The two Kings can never check each other, since they are not allowed to stand on adjacent squares.
• You cannot move into check. Placing your own King on a square attacked by an enemy piece is an illegal move. The same is true for moving a piece that was shielding your King if doing so exposes him.
• You cannot stay in check. Any move that does not remove the threat is illegal while your King is under attack, even a move on the other side of the board.
• Giving a check is optional. No rule forces you to check the enemy King, and a check is not always the best move. Many checks simply chase the King to a safer square and help the opponent.
• A check you cannot answer is checkmate. If none of the three escapes is available, the game ends at once. See our guide to checkmate for the full rule.

Check vs. Checkmate vs. Stalemate

These three get mixed up constantly, but the line between them is clean. A check is an attack on the king that still has at least one legal answer, so play continues. Checkmate is a check with no legal answer at all: the king is attacked, it cannot move, the check cannot be blocked, and the attacker cannot be taken, so the game ends right there. Stalemate is the odd one out. The king is not in check, yet the side to move has no legal move of any kind. That ends the game as well, but as a draw instead of a loss. A short way to hold the difference: checkmate is king attacked and trapped, stalemate is king safe but trapped. Every checkmate is a check, but most checks are neither mate nor stalemate.

How to Get Out of Check: The Three Escapes (Move, Interpose, Capture)

There are three ways to escape a check:

1) The first one is to run the King to a safe square that is not attacked by a rival piece.

The h7-King can go back to the g8-square to dodge the threat.

In the position above, the knight on g6 attacks the king on h7. To escape this menace, Black can move the King to a safe square. Of course, this square should be chosen wisely to prevent White from attacking. Technically, the King can go to h6, g6, h8 or g8 (on g6 it takes the knight). However, only one of those squares allows Black to have a safe King, the g8-square.

2) The second way to escape the threat is to capture the attacking piece.

The king on g8 can end the check by capturing the attacker, the h7-Bishop.

In the scene above, the h7-Bishop threatens the g8-King. Black can escape this threat by taking the unprotected h7-Bishop. This is typically a desired act if the King can return to safety in several moves. If White can initiate a forced sequence of moves once the King is too forward, Black can also choose not to capture the assaulting piece.

3) The third and last way of escaping this concept is by blocking the attack by putting a piece between the King and the assaulter.

The g4-Bishop can block the menace by moving to the d7-square.

The Black King is menaced by the h7-Rook in the position above. Black can block this threat by putting a piece between the c7-King and the rival Rook. This can be a lifesaver on several occasions. However, Knight and Pawn assaults cannot be blocked due to their unique ways of assault. This makes them somewhat more dangerous because of the player’s limited choices.

White is in check, and they must choose the best sequence to escape it.

Now, let’s see a position where we can use all three ways to avoid a check. The d5-King is under attack by the d1-Rook. The King can move, the b6-Bishop can be used to prevent the menace, or the d1-Rook can be captured.

If the King moves, the enemy can capture the e1-Rook and win a full Rook. The same also occurs if the b6-Bishop blocks the assault. This leaves us with the third option: capturing the assaulting force.

White is again in check, and only one way leads to victory.

If White captures the d1-Rook, Black takes back with the other Rook and gives check again. Now White has two ways out. A King move lets Black win the e6-Rook. Blocking with Bd4 keeps every white piece, and White plays on for the win.

How Check Is Written in Notation: + and #

Check has its own symbol in algebraic notation. When a move attacks the enemy king, you add a plus sign at the end, so a bishop landing on h7 with check is written Bxh7+. If that same move also ends the game, the plus becomes a hash, the # symbol, for checkmate, as in Qh7#. A double check is sometimes written with two plus signs (++), though a single + is more common on modern scoresheets. None of this changes the move itself. The symbols are shorthand that let you read through a game and see at a glance where the king came under fire. They are also the quick answer to what the + at the end of a chess move actually means.

When You Legally Cannot Escape a Check

The three answers only work when they are legal, and each one can fall through. Blocking fails against a knight or a contact check, because a knight jumps over pieces and an adjacent attacker leaves no square to interpose on. Capturing fails when your only defender is pinned: a piece pinned to its own king cannot legally move to take the attacker. And both blocking and capturing fail together against a double check, where two pieces hit the king at once, since interposing or capturing stops only one of them. When every answer is illegal or impossible, the position is checkmate. In my own blitz games I keep losing half a second working out which answer is off the table, and that half second is usually the whole difference between a calculated reply and a hopeful one.

Test Yourself: Spot the Check, Find the Escape

Before moving on, run a quick drill in your head on positions you already know. First: a knight checks from two squares away. Can you block it? No, never, so your only options are to move the king or take the knight. Second: your rook could capture the checking bishop, but that rook is pinned against your own king by an enemy queen. Is the capture legal? No. The pin makes it illegal, so the king has to move. Third: a discovered double check lands on your king. How many of the three answers are open? Just one, moving the king. Got all three? Then you already read checks the way stronger players do. If not, slow down and trace every square each attacker controls before you commit.

How to Avoid Checks in Chess: Castling, Pawn Shelter and Luft

Castling can help keep your King safe before a check arises, but you cannot castle out of check.

White castled on the short side.

As seen above, the enemy cannot attack the White King in a logical sense. The pawns in front of the King serve as a shelter, creating an impenetrable wall. If the c5-Bishop captures the f2-pawn, they could technically deliver a check. However, this would be a terrible idea because the King would still be kept safe.

The Black King must escape to safety.

Once the King is misplaced, it can be assaulted easily. The pawns are excellent forces to close this deal and avoid any danger. In cases where the King is jeopardized, as shown above, it must walk to safety, and g8 is a good place to start. Moves like these are called “prophylaxis.” This approach heads off future threats by taking precautions early.

Black can gain a decisive advantage by striking the White King.

If one of the players pushes the pawns in front of the King, the squares not covered by the pawns are called “weaknesses.” The pieces can then occupy those squares, striking the King and gaining the initiative.

The above position illustrates a weakness in White’s position due to the lack of the f2-pawn. With that pawn gone, the a7-g1 diagonal becomes weak. Black can check the White King by going Bc5+ and win an exchange by following with Nf2+.

To prevent this, players must tailor the position and think twice before pushing the pawns that are securing the King.

Examples of Checks With Different Pieces: How Each One Attacks (Pawn, Bishop, Knight, Rook, Queen)

Players can use every piece other than the King to check the enemy. The table below sums up how each one gives check, whether that check can be blocked, and the mating pattern it tends to produce. The examples that follow show each in action.

The position below shows how a pawn can check the rival. The e5-pawn is utilized to attack the Black King. The opponent has to move to get out of this situation.

The e5-pawn hits the enemy King.

As illustrated, pawns attack one square diagonal. Pawns can always be sacrificed for a bigger goal. Players must be cautious before letting the opponent have their pawns too far forward.

The Bishop is used as an offensive piece to threaten the enemy below. The a3-Bishop is attacking the opponent King. The enemy has to move their King to a safe square.

Bishops have long scopes. This allows them to strike from a long distance. These attacks can also be blocked, probably by a pawn. If the Bishop is assaulting the enemy from the adjacent diagonal, they cannot be blocked.

Knights are tricky pieces that are hard to deal with. The c4-Knight below attacks the opponent. A knight check can’t be blocked, because of the way the knight jumps.

The c3-Knight assaults the rival.

Since they cannot be blocked, they are subject to various mating patterns. Mate themes like “smothered mate” consist of Knights terrorizing the enemy King.

The Rooks are heavy pieces, the most valuable after the Queen regarding attacking forces. They are typically handy in open files and ranks. Capturing them to avoid the assault on the King might be hard due to their long range.

The h6-Rook strikes the enemy.

The position above shows the h6-Rook assaulting the d6-King. The Rooks are placed excellently at the seventh rank. Players must be careful and not let the enemy Rooks infiltrate their base if they have no plan to counter.

Queens are the most powerful attacking piece. Once the queen joins the attack, the danger to the king is at its highest. Their long range of scope and ability to move diagonally, vertically, and horizontally allows for many scenes where the end is inevitable.

The f6-Queen attacks the d6-King.

As seen above, the f6-Queen can horizontally strike the rival. These checks can sometimes be dodged in all three ways we emphasized. If the attack is too near the King, the game can conclude with a checkmate due to a lack of escape options.

The example below also illustrates a scene where the Queen hits the opponent. This time, the Queen uses the diagonal rather than the rank or the file. The ability to constantly check sometimes allows one player to draw the game when they are down in material.

The b8-Queen uses the diagonal to strike the opponent.

Special Types of Check: Double, Discovered and Perpetual

Most checks are simple, but a few are stronger and need extra attention. These three come up again and again in real games.

Double Check

A double check happens when two pieces attack the King at the same time, usually because one piece moves and uncovers a second attacker behind it. This is the most forcing check on the board. The King cannot block or capture his way out of two threats at once, so the only legal reply to a double check is to move the King.

The position below comes from the famous game Réti–Tartakower (1910). White plays the stunning Qd8+, and after Kxd8 the move Bg5+ gives check with the Bishop and uncovers the Rook on d1 at the same time. With both pieces checking, the King must run, and White mates with Rd8#.

Discovered Check

A discovered check is delivered not by the piece that moves, but by a piece hiding behind it. When the front piece steps aside, the rear piece, often a Rook or Bishop, suddenly attacks the King. These are dangerous because the moving piece is free to capture material or create a second threat while the opponent is forced to deal with the check.

Perpetual Check

A perpetual check is an endless series of checks that the opponent cannot escape. The attacking player keeps checking the enemy King, which is forced to shuffle between the same squares. Because the position repeats, the game is drawn by threefold repetition. This is a vital resource when you are losing on material: a perpetual check lets you save the game even when you are down a Queen. It also answers a common question, “how many times can you check in chess?” — there is no limit on the number of checks, but a position that repeats three times ends in a draw.

Do You Have to Say “Check” in Chess?

No, you are not required to announce a check. In casual and friendly games it is a common courtesy to say “check” out loud so your opponent does not miss the attack, but it is not part of the official rules. In rated and tournament games players almost never say it, because both sides are expected to see the threat for themselves. What matters is the move on the board, not the word: even if nobody says “check,” the player whose King is attacked must still respond to it.

Final Word: Check in a Nutshell

Check is the one rule the rest of chess is built around. The king is attacked, you respond at once, and you have exactly three tools: move, interpose, or capture. The harder part is knowing when each tool is gone. A knight or contact check cannot be blocked. A pinned piece cannot capture. A double check forces the king to run because nothing else is legal. Once those failure cases are second nature, king safety stops being guesswork. From here it pays to firm up the ideas sitting next to check that you will meet in every game: checkmate, stalemate, castling, the pin, and the discovered attack. Each one runs on the same logic of king safety, and they are easier to learn once check itself is solid.

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